Seaside 3: A load of carp

[Fenric]

The newly implemented forcefield does an admirable job of shoving the cantankerous crustaceans overboard! The flow of inbound raiders comes to an abrupt halt, and here and there the ship staff begins to have some success with ejecting the monsters.

Below, Ben comes up to a pile of crabs with many broken shells, weakly stirring but not doing well at all. In the middle of the destruction stands an angry looking Machoke who pounds any crab bold or foolish enough to approach him: slamming them against Bella's forcefield with shattering strength.

On the floor next to him is a small, gold, crab statue. Hm.

[Lost_Deep]

Continuity Cruise Lines

"Crud, whoever's beating on the inside of the shield needs to stop," Bella says, wincing.

Kate peers over the edge, where the crabs are not being thrown out through the shield. Using some magic, she makes her own shield overlapping where Bella's shield is. She doesn't have as much energy, but this should be a one-way shield, permitting things to get out but not in. Kate then calls, "Make a hole where I'm layering," and Bella does, so that the overall shield isn't stopping it there.

There, solved by cooperation. Now to hope that whoever it is runs out of crabs before Kate runs out of power.

[Morty]

[Beachside Party]

"Fayyaad ibn Haashid al-Zafar, to be precise," the tiefling says. He's leaning familiarly against Fetty. "But simply 'Fayyaad' will do. It's true I was forced to come here, but so far this vacation has been quite pleasant."

[Rebonack]

[Beachside Party]

For good measure, Khannie stomps all over the sand that she's pretty sure belongs to the ghost pokemon. If that isn't enough to cause it to faint, she isn't sure what would be. With one last kick, she feels it. An absolutely, unmistakable sensation. The inkling of her body and mind abruptly hardening, her strength and skill and resilience leaping beyond where it once was. A sudden spike in her lethality.

"Oh hey!" she laughs. "I gained a level, yay!"

Thankfully she didn't gain LOVE.

Or maybe she did?

Probably not, though.

Since pokemon never die in combat. Or so they say.

"What was your plan going to be?" she asks curiously.

[Lost_Deep]

Beachside Party

"I was going to fold down the umbrella," Astara says, sliding down the pole, "And then just pull it out of the ground and tip it onto the thing." To be fair, it seems to be a pretty big umbrella, and not anchored super-deep.

[Shadowcaller]

[Beachside - Party!]



"What, wait, what, hold on," Fetty babbles, leaning toward Zhareen with his hands out. His eyes had narrowed, and now widen. That was even spookier! And maybe symbolic? Fetty was damned sure it sounded like there was more to it! "You sorta, heh, trailed off there. You sure there's not, y'know, a little more?" The dark-skinned lad almost seems worried about it! Or at the very least highly interested.

His eyes twitch over to Reinholdt and Anchor when he's introduced. He gives a genuine smile, retracting his hands and sitting more fully on his barstool, trying to seem cool. He's got a blanket around his slender shoulders and the tiefling Fayyaad sits beside him. "How do you do? You guys are friends?"

"People are exciting! Well, frightening, mostly."
Anchor goes to pat the shuddering cat on the shoulder before she thinks better of it. It's only fortune-telling, it's always vague.

"Well I just met them at the party, literally ran into them-"
"This is Zhareen, she's the fortune-teller, very nice."
"This is Fayaad, he's from a far away world that he can't return to."
"This is Fetty." What can one say about Fetty?
Each is pointed out in turn.

"Everyone, this is Reinholdt, the treasure hunter." Surely they've heard of him.

[Beachside Party]

"Fayyaad ibn Haashid al-Zafar, to be precise," the tiefling says. He's leaning familiarly against Fetty. "But simply 'Fayyaad' will do. It's true I was forced to come here, but so far this vacation has been quite pleasant."

Beachside Party

Reinholdt rubs the back of his head. Whew, that's a lot. And it sounds like they're doing some sort of fortune telling over here. A shudder runs through him. Nothing about fortune telling is ever good. Fate is stupid.

"I'm doing pretty well. Admittedly, there's been nothing nearly as exciting as saving zombie unicorns from fairies. Mostly just reconnecting with people. It's been slow and awkward. Probably cause I keep avoiding the adventure hooks." He shrugs a little. "Who are your friends?"

[Beachside Party]

Zhareen's eyes flickers nervously as she looks at Fetty. "I... then you must make a sacrifice, Fetty. My augur spirit wouldn't want to give more for free." She explains before she turns to look at Reinholdt as well. "Oh, hi mister cat-person! I am Zhareen. So glad to meet a expert treasure hunter, as I am also looking for treasure, see?" She gestures at the dividing rod in her belt with a big friendly grin.

[Reinholdt]

[Beachside - Party]

"A pleasure." Rein gives his flourish when Anchor introduces him to the others.

"We've met." Reinholdt says, inclining his head to Fayyaad. "Afraid you caught me on a bit of a downer last time though. Perhaps we can rectify that impression." I dunno man. You seem to be trying to sneak a sip from a flask this very moment. Then again you are a cat this time. I suppose that qualifies as different.

He also nods to Fetty, trying to place the name, but failing for the moment. "Yeah, Anchor and I have some history. She's a good friend and a better person."

The cat smiles a little nervously himself at the mermaid. Talks of sacrifice and augur spirits keep him on edge, though Anchor vouching for her being nice does a lot to keep him settled. Besides, she's a treasure hunter too. Other treasure hunters were always cool, until they became competition. No problem there though. She has a divining rod and he doesn't. "Yeah? Are you looking for anything in particular or just striking out to find what you can? How long have you been in the treasure hunting business?"

[Deathkeeper]

Continuity Cruise Lines

Ben flicks his nose and sends the little statue towards him with a super simple magic trick he figured out.
"Uh, you keep doing what you're doing." he tells the pokemon.

Beachside Party

Willa smirks.
"What do you think? I've never modeled before." she tells Riss, trying a few poses with her arms behind her head or below her breasts, and others, most of which focus on making her human half look good. She's not particularly sure what to do with her legs.
---
Meanwhile, Sam goes back to his umbrella and plops into his chair to start drying off, keeping an eye on Astara. What a strange creature.

[deleteman900]

[Beachside - Party]

"A pleasure." Rein gives his flourish when Anchor introduces him to the others.

"We've met." Reinholdt says, inclining his head to Fayyaad. "Afraid you caught me on a bit of a downer last time though. Perhaps we can rectify that impression." I dunno man. You seem to be trying to sneak a sip from a flask this very moment. Then again you are a cat this time. I suppose that qualifies as different.

He also nods to Fetty, trying to place the name, but failing for the moment. "Yeah, Anchor and I have some history. She's a good friend and a better person."

The cat smiles a little nervously himself at the mermaid. Talks of sacrifice and augur spirits keep him on edge, though Anchor vouching for her being nice does a lot to keep him settled. Besides, she's a treasure hunter too. Other treasure hunters were always cool, until they became competition. No problem there though. She has a divining rod and he doesn't. "Yeah? Are you looking for anything in particular or just striking out to find what you can? How long have you been in the treasure hunting business?"

A little kitsune vixen stops building her sand castle, and abandons it in favor of sneaking up closer to the group that had gathered around what appeared to be a cat. She missed most of what was said except for 'treasure' and her ears perked up at the prospect of shinies, sneaking closer and palming her last remaining water balloon, waiting for a good target to identify itself, or failing that, something even more interesting to happen.

[Fenric]

One more crab flies out through the hole that Kate and Bella just made, but then the pounding stops...

Because the Machoke plants his foot down on the statue the moment it starts moving

MACHOKE!

It doesn't take a translator to figure out the clear "Mine!" in that statement.

[Lost_Deep]

Continuity Cruise Lines

Bella and Kate look down at the crabs, watching them. After a moment, Kate heads over to the other side of the ship, to look down that edge and see if they're trying anything over there.

Kate doesn't expect the crabs to give up easily, if at all.

[Deathkeeper]

Continuity Cruise Lines

"I swear, if this ship sinks just because someone stole a stupid idol... It's worse than a giant rock."
Ben opens his mouth and....
A crab appears off to the pokemon's left, roaring a challenge!

[Recaiden]

Well, Fayaad wasn't precise when he introduced himself to Anchor and Zhareen. What more can she do? That's quite a bit of extra name.

"Oh yeah. I wouldn't exist if it weren't for Reinholdt." And also Toby, Phoebe, Rochelle, Caroline...some people accumulate a lot of points in their life where they can say 'I would be dead here except...'
Anchor looks at Fayaad again. Another instance of slow reconnecting, is this?
"Do you think you can tell one more fortune, Zhareen?"

---

Meanwhile, Anchor's shadow, its drink done, slips across the floor to that kitsune and waves. Surely no one intends to throw a water balloon here at the bar. That stuff is for out on the sand.

[deleteman900]

Well, Fayaad wasn't precise when he introduced himself to Anchor and Zhareen. What more can she do? That's quite a bit of extra name.

"Oh yeah. I wouldn't exist if it weren't for Reinholdt." And also Toby, Phoebe, Rochelle, Caroline...some people accumulate a lot of points in their life where they can say 'I would be dead here except...'
Anchor looks at Fayaad again. Another instance of slow reconnecting, is this?
"Do you think you can tell one more fortune, Zhareen?"

---

Meanwhile, Anchor's shadow, its drink done, slips across the floor to that kitsune and waves. Surely no one intends to throw a water balloon here at the bar. That stuff is for out on the sand.

The vixen smiles nervously, ashamed at being caught in preparation for a prank, and quickly hides the water balloon away for later use. A silly idea enters her head, and she looks at where her own shadow is. Thankfully, the sun is shining brightly behind her, so her shadow lies in front of her, in relation to Anchor's, and she is able to reach out a paw, and experimentally pat Anchor's shadow on the head, curious if it would work. She would appear to be the definition of a precocious young child, and Anchor's shadow would likely have no idea of the snarling beast she'd been earlier when Joel had so rudely pinned her to the sand, ;p

[Murkus]

[Beachside - Party!]

"Wow, uh, that's pretty intense," Fetty says to Anchor, leaning against Fayyaad a little more closely and looking at the lot of them. His eyes are a bit wide, mostly with interest, and he definitely isn't leaning against Fayyaad cuz he's worried about that fortune or anything.

He glances toward Zhareen with regained interest as Anchor poses her question. Reinholdt's? Well if anything that Fettina heard about him back in the day was true, this would be more than interesting. Still, he puts his mouth close to Fayyaad's ear and whispers, "Does this all seem kinda hokey to you?" He seems unsure.

[UncleWolf]

Above the Rocks

Faithel can't say no to a helping hand, especially considering how thick her skull still felt. "Right, flyy. You go ahead and do that, savior. But if you would see a rowboat, you inform me, okayy?"

When Sorrow returns from her scout trip she will see that Faithel have at least managed to managed to put on some proper pants and a shirt. She have taken off some of her armor though and put it it in a bag, with a huge claymore sticking out of it, which she is holding over her shoulder with one hand. She waves as Sorrow comes closer. "She reeturns, pasa da'thar, so what did she find?"

As Sorrow tells her about the falls, Faithel chuckles. "You look past it for treasure? Therre is alwaays treasure behind those things." She comments before starting to follow the Sister. "But seriously, waterfalls are loud and unpleasant. Nice scenery though."

Her remark is likely confirmed once they reach the waterfall. She had imagined it to be larger however. "You know... I cannot recall last time that I bathed." Faithel remarks as she sees the oils. "Least of all using thaat sort of... chemicals."

Above the Rocks


"If your smell is any indication, I'd say you're telling the truth." The Sister says with a barely noticeable smile. Despite her earlier flashes of rage, she seems to be enjoying the company of another person. Piece by piece, her armor is set down on a blanket, leaving her in a simple and dirty set of clothing consisting of a white sleeveless blouse and white shorts. Eventually, they too are taken off, folded, and set on the blanket. Naked, Sorrow kneels in front of the entire set and closes her eyes, giving a silent prayer. As she does so, Faithel will see that hazy aura rise off of her entire body now instead of just her head, and when the Sister finally steps into the cool pool, steam hisses off of her skin as the heat boils the water.

Sorrow submerses herself completely when she notices and after a few moments rises back up with a weary smile. She's still steaming but enough of the heat has been sapped from her to prevent the worst of it.

[Fenric]

There are crabs on both sides of the ship, but they can't cross Bella's barrier so they are safe... for now. Meanwhile, crab soldiers continue to be forcibly ejected from the ship by the staff, from the decks above the forcefield.

Ben's ploy works quite well as the Machoke turns to face this new threat and in doing so releases the little gold idol. Once Ben gets hold of it, it's pretty clearly recognizable as the same testy spider-crab god who attacked the King Under the Sea.

The Pokémon stomps to attack the crab, aiming a punishing blow at the thing's head.

[Morty]

[Beachside - Party!]

"A bit. I mean, you can't actually predict the future," Fayyaad whispers back. "But it's all good fun."

[Recaiden]

The vixen smiles nervously, ashamed at being caught in preparation for a prank, and quickly hides the water balloon away for later use. A silly idea enters her head, and she looks at where her own shadow is. Thankfully, the sun is shining brightly behind her, so her shadow lies in front of her, in relation to Anchor's, and she is able to reach out a paw, and experimentally pat Anchor's shadow on the head, curious if it would work. She would appear to be the definition of a precocious young child, and Anchor's shadow would likely have no idea of the snarling beast she'd been earlier when Joel had so rudely pinned her to the sand, ;p

When the shadows meet, the vixen feels a bit of resistance and a tingling with that paw. The light means there's more there than empty air. The shadow turns so one can see that it's smiling, and reaches out to pat the other on the shoulder. How clever, someone to figure this out right away.
Then it takes a few steps down the beach. Is she going to follow?

[Lost_Deep]

Continuity Cruise Lines

Okay, okay, good. Then, Kate will politely ask a staff member, if she can fine one who isn't busy, if there's anything else she can do to help. Holding her porthole, while a drain on her magic resources, isn't actually a thought-strenuous task, and she's willing to help more if she can.

Bella, however, is a bit preoccupied right now.

[deleteman900]

When the shadows meet, the vixen feels a bit of resistance and a tingling with that paw. The light means there's more there than empty air. The shadow turns so one can see that it's smiling, and reaches out to pat the other on the shoulder. How clever, someone to figure this out right away.
Then it takes a few steps down the beach. Is she going to follow?

The vixen seems all too willing to follow the shadow away from all the stuffy, boring adults talking about fortunes and whatnot, though the drinking kitty cat had seemed interesting at first glance. There'd always be time to stop and say hi later on, right? The little girls hums a happy song, skipping along beside the shadow, uncertain if she should try speaking to it when they reached wherever they were going, or if it could even hear her.

[Recaiden]

The shadow steps along in time to the happy song, stepping into the waves and almost disappearing from sight under the water.
Seems to have no trouble hearing, but answering might be a problem.

[deleteman900]

The shadow steps along in time to the happy song, stepping into the waves and almost disappearing from sight under the water.
Seems to have no trouble hearing, but answering might be a problem.

The vixen stops and looks at the water uncertainly, not particularly a fan of getting her fur all wet, and having heard more than a few horror stories of innocent kits being dragged under the waves by long seaweed. All in all, she stops a good dozen feet away from the water, not moving a single inch further, despite wanting to play with the seemingly friendly shadow.

[Recaiden]

But that only happens to innocent kits. Surely she has nothing to be afraid of.

The shadow slinks backup onto land and turns to face the kitsune, head tilted curiously.

[deleteman900]

But that only happens to innocent kits. Surely she has nothing to be afraid of.

The shadow slinks backup onto land and turns to face the kitsune, head tilted curiously.

It is adequately clear to the young vixen that she doesn't know who this shadow belongs to, or really even WHY the shadow is leading her into the water. But she does have a healthy distrust of the ocean, knowing that it could crush her with intense pressure without thinking twice. Besides, a story about a fox, a turtle, and a scorpion occurs to her, and how they tried to cross a river on the turtle's back.

[Recaiden]

Well, it's true that the shadow isn't much of a turtle. But maybe with someone else to play the scorpion it could try.
The shadow moves to fall over the kit, as if cast by someone standing rather close. All nice and dry now.

[deleteman900]

Well, it's true that the shadow isn't much of a turtle. But maybe with someone else to play the scorpion it could try.
The shadow moves to fall over the kit, as if cast by someone standing rather close. All nice and dry now.

The youngster edges away from the shadow warily, before dropping to her stomach to get a closer look at the shadow, wondering if there was anything special about it, besides its apparent lack of needing something to cast it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Beachside - Party!]

"Looking for? Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I'm actually looking for the parts of a special staff." Zhareen claims with a nod. "As for how long I've been in it? Uh, not very long, or very long, depending on how you count it. I got a huge seashell and pearl collection that I started at from a very young age, some wouldn't call that treasure though." She then peers at Anchor. "Oh, I could do that! I did say the first one was for free, so that's something I gotta keep!"

((Posting in the other scene tomorrow...))

[Recaiden]

"Yep, for Reinholdt here. We haven't heard his fortune, after all."
Anchor peers back at Zhareen. She really needs to get a new pair of sunglasses, after...whatever it was that happened to the old ones.
"Pearls are definitely treasure. I mean, at least I think so. Seashells maybe not, but they're still nice."

---

The shadow takes a few steps back; it's the shadow that ought to be cast by a human woman dressed for a day at the beach. After a brief moment, it turns and faces the sea.

[deleteman900]

"Yep, for Reinholdt here. We haven't heard his fortune, after all."
Anchor peers back at Zhareen. She really needs to get a new pair of sunglasses, after...whatever it was that happened to the old ones.
"Pearls are definitely treasure. I mean, at least I think so. Seashells maybe not, but they're still nice."

---

The shadow takes a few steps back; it's the shadow that ought to be cast by a human woman dressed for a day at the beach. After a brief moment, it turns and faces the sea.

The vixen kit watches the shadow with overwhelming curiosity, still just a little weirded out by a shadow just getting up and walking around of its own volition.